Boldin excels in win at Arizona - S.F. enters playoffs as No. 5 seed

On Sunday, the 33-year-old wideout made it clear he's ready to make a second straight Super Bowl run by turning in a virtuoso performance in the 49ers' 23-2o win over the Cardinals in their regular-season finale.

With the win, which was sealed by Phil Dawson's 40-yard field goal as time expired, the 49ers (12-4) will visit Green Bay (8-7-1) in an NFC wild-card game at 1:40 p.m. Sunday.

The Packers might not be thrilled to learn that Boldin, who opened the season with 13 catches for 208 yards against them, appears to be in Week 1 form. On Sunday, he had nine catches for 149 yards and a laundry list of memorable moments: Boldin had a gain of least 11 yards on each of the 49ers' five scoring drives.

Last season, he had a six-catch, 104-yard, one-touchdown performance to help lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl win over San Francisco. On Sunday, inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman acknowledged the obvious: It's nice to call Boldin a teammate this season.

"It's great, man," Bowman said. "He wants to be great and he understands when a big play needs to be made and he's out there making them."

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 29: kicker Phil Dawson #9 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after kicking the game winning 40 yard field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the final moments of the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December 29, 2013 in Glendale, Arizona. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals 23-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) less

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 29: kicker Phil Dawson #9 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after kicking the game winning 40 yard field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the final moments of the NFL game ... more

Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

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GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 29: kicker Phil Dawson #9 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after kicking the game winning 40 yard field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the final moments of the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December 29, 2013 in Glendale, Arizona. The 49ers defeated the Cardinals 23-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) less

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 29: kicker Phil Dawson #9 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after kicking the game winning 40 yard field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the final moments of the NFL game ... more

Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images

49ers win finale, to face Packers in playoffs

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Said head coach Jim Harbaugh: "What a football player."

The 49ers will need to play better than they did Sunday to reach the Super Bowl. They squandered a 17-point, first-quarter lead, and quarterback Carson Palmer rebounded from a shaky start to fillet their secondary for 407 yards and two touchdowns. Palmer capped the Cardinals' comeback with a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Andre Roberts on 3rd-and-13 for a touchdown with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Still, the wart-filled win came against Arizona (10-6), which entered having won seven of its past eight. Noting the difficulty of winning in the NFL, Harbaugh invoked the well-known words of late Raiders owner Al Davis, his boss when he broke into coaching as an Oakland assistant in 2002.

"Mr. Al Davis would say, 'Just win,' " Harbaugh said. "Sometimes it was, 'Just win, baby.' And I didn't have a full understanding of what it meant. But I do now. Just win, baby, by any means necessary."

On Sunday, the 49ers' apparent stress-free win turned into a suspenseful late-game back-and-forth as both teams scored on their final two possessions.

After Arizona tied the game 20-20 on Jay Feely's 43-yard field goal with 29 seconds left, quarterback Colin Kaepernick put the finishing touches on the third 300-yard performance of his 26-start career. Kaepernick, who threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns and had a 111.2 rating, began by firing an 18-yard strike to Boldin, who had cornerback Jerraud Powers draped over him, with 18 seconds left.

After a 5-yard penalty, Kaepernick lofted a 29-yard pass to rookie Quinton Patton, who reached over cornerback Antoine Cason to set up Dawson's game-winning field goal. On the 49ers' previous drive, Patton, running a slant, couldn't corral a would-be first-down pass on 3rd-and-2. Dawson followed with a 56-yard field goal to give the 49ers a 20-17 lead with 1:45 left.

"I let the team down," Patton said. "I was talking to Anquan on the sidelines and he said, 'It's going to come back to you. Just make a play.' "

Long before Patton's play, it was clear the 49ers had a Boldin-centered offensive game plan against the NFL's No. 1 run defense, which limited Frank Gore to 14 yards on 13 carries. With Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson shadowing Michael Crabtree (three catches, 29 yards), Boldin quickly began picking on the lesser lights in Arizona's secondary.

Offensive coordinator Greg Roman "came to me and told me he was going to do that," Boldin said. "That he was going to come to me and get us going. I was able to do that."

Indeed, with 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Boldin had six catches for 106 yards - his second 100-yard game of the season - and the 49ers led 17-0. Boldin gave the Niners a 10-0 edge by outmuscling Powers on a 4-yard fade route in the right corner of the end zone. On their next series, he had a 63-yard reception that set up Kaepernick's 3-yard scoring lob to tight end Vernon Davis.

Boldin (1,179 yards) finished the season with the most yards by a 49ers wideout since Terrell Owens had 1,300 in 2002, but he insisted he still plays second fiddle in the wide receiving corps.

"I definitely think I was brought here to help out and assist Crab," Boldin said. "We all know this is his team. He's the No. 1 receiver here. I was brought in to help him out, and I'm looking forward to helping out."

Of course, he already has done plenty of heavy lifting. And the 49ers hope Sunday's performance is an indication he's ready for another ring.